Super Meghan (edited)

Meghan was thrilled when she saw these pajamas. Daddy has a Superman shirt. She knew the symbol.























(Mommy gave it to him when they were dating. He wore it when we entered our wedding reception to the Superman theme song...he opened his shirt as we got to our places for all to see. It was so funny. I did know about it ahead of time. See a picture here.)

When I mentioned to Derek that it would be fun to get a picture of him in his shirt and her in her pjs, he reminded me about my Superman pjs. I had to tell him that I hadn't worn them in years because I had outgrown them.

The cape is fastened with velcro. I think they're adorable! Meghan even will attempt to say Superman pajamas!

A Wet One

We didn't give Evan a bath in his clothes.

He had a blast using our water table!

Even his eyelashes are wet.

Look closely. His backside is barely dry!!! That's what happens when you play at the water table for about an hour with only a two minute break to sit!

I really was satisfied with our little water tubs , but the water table has been wonderful to have!

Hand-Me-Down Family Fun

This past week the children and I had the chance to visit with our cousins Karen and Emily. (Karen is actually my dad's cousin, and Emily is her daughter.) It'd been about four years since I had seen them. Of course Emily had grown a lot in that time! Karen took a picture of Emily and me. She said it was to show her parents how short I am! (They know how tall Emily is...I thought it was funny. Really, I am that short.)

They brought with them all sorts of goodies, including two bags of toys that Emily had outgrown. These are wonderful! We enjoy hand-me-downs of all sorts, but these are extra sweet, and very appropriate for Meghan (though Emily is about to begin middle school). I put some of the toys in storage, but Meghan like the ABC block puzzle, Barbie Cinderella, Colorforms, and Leap Frog books (with cartridges). (Cinderella tells Meghan what to put on her next...very clever...and Meghan doesn't even know Barbie and only knows Cinderella from a book.) You remember Colorforms, right? They are the re-positional stickers! I remember them as an older kid, but Meghan enjoys them now! I love these!

So a big thank you goes out to Emily and Karen for thinking of us!

Funny Problem

I have a strange problem...a funny problem...that really is so insignificant that it doesn't really matter, but I still thought I'd share it with you.

My cell phone died after three years. The screen just stopped working. (We don't use cell phones much and pay Virgin Mobile about $7/month for service. It works for us!) I ordered another phone; it arrived yesterday.

The phone came with really obnoxious ring tones. (One is okay-but not great.) I have been trying to figure out what ring tone to choose. My old phone had the Muppet Show Theme Song, but that is no longer available. I don't prefer songs with words.

I just can't come up with a good option for a song. Derek hasn't either, though we did get a kick listening to Blues Clues and Growing Pains ring tones. (And no, I don't want Blues Clues...it'd just be one more reason for Meghan to love cell phones!)

Any ideas for me? I know...it's a personal choice, but I thought maybe you could give some input!

Messy Buns-My Way

I was inspired by Crystal to make messy buns. I gave Meghan two pony tails high on her head. Then I twisted each pony tail and fastened it with another hair tie.

As soon as we were done, we went to the mirror to look.

And then we went directly to the trampoline to loosen the buns! They didn't fully come out, but it was close!

Stand Up

No joke...Evan has been standing for a few seconds on his own. He did it last weekend and twice Friday night.

I am not ready for this! Derek is a very proud daddy though. (So am I; it's just hard to think that the baby is growing up too fast.)

No pictures of course; it doesn't last that long!

Seeing God's Goodness

We've started to do a bit of more structured fun here at home. Last week and this week we are learning about how God created the world in seven days. I'll be posting more fun stuff over at Live, Learn, Love but thought this was too cute not to share here.

We made binoculars. Again. In the spring when we made them they didn't survive much use. These seem much better!

This is not a creative or special craft, but I thought I'd share since these seem sturdier than some others.

Using toilet paper tubes, I hot glued them together. I also hot glued the yarn on the sides. Meghan decorated the binoculars with lots of stickers. She told me what each sticker was (mostly animals), and then I asked her who made it. She happily told me, "God!" I highly recommend hot glue to keep them sturdy! Some of the stickers didn't want to stick, so we also used packaging tape to keep them on the tubes. The tape probably helped it to stay sturdy, too.

Then we went on a sight-seeing walk to find all sorts of things that God made. We saw birds, bugs, rocks, plants, neighbors, and animals (okay, just one dog).

Why not go outside and enjoy God's creation right now? Have fun!

Date Night

Derek's mom had a long weekend, so she came for a visit. She sent us away on Saturday night to have some time alone together. (Yes, I am even wearing make-up and a necklace!) We went out to dinner at a restaurant in town. The meal was good, and filling too. I had French dip (different than how I make it, but still good) and Derek had veal Parmesan. We didn't have room for dessert even though we both brought home plenty of leftovers.

We drove around. We were on lots of back roads that I hadn't been on before. We found a place to miniature golf a few towns away. Even though I had a hole-in-one (the last hole), Derek still beat me by 12 strokes. I'd like to say it is because he is that good, but really it's because I am that bad. It was so hot! When we left (maybe about 8 PM) it was 85 degrees and very humid. We were sweating from just being outside.

Afterwards we drove around lots more. That's what you do when there isn't much else to do.

I finally saw Lincoln University. It's only a few miles away. Does anyone want to guess why Lincoln University excites me? On one of my favorite TV shows, one of the characters goes away to college there. What? It was one of your favorite shows, too? Leave me a comment if you know which show it was on. (Yes, was. The show isn't on any more in prime time.) No prize, just lots of admiration from me that you know it, too!

This is by far, the best picture of all of us! I love it, even if Evan didn't smile! And a decent picture of Derek and me, too. :)

A Baby's Water Table

This is my son. This is his mess. Dry food soaked in water. Yum.

He has been interested in Lucy's cat dishes since he began crawling. We moved it. It doesn't help. We have to keep the dishes on the counter when Evan is awake. Thankfully she doesn't jump on the counters for food...just once in a while to be naughty.

Photo Shoot...of the Uncooperative Kind

We started out well.

This Little Piggy Went to Market!

Hugs!

Bouncing on the couch

I'm tired!

Play Time!

Meghan and Evan are really starting to enjoy one another. Actually, I think Evan has adored Meghan for a long time. She is just now starting to really enjoy him as a wrestling opponent...or playmate. They are exploring a few new roles.

Taxi driver and passenger. She only ran over his feet a few times.



















Band members. Drumming on the toy pots and pans.

Dancing partners. (Sorry about the hair in the face. I like to let it fully dry after baths before putting in barrettes and such.)

Skating!

Yesterday evening we went to a birthday party at a skating rink-for 30 year old twins! We had to wake the kids up early to get there on time, but it was worth it! After an hour drive, we arrived in time for the fun!

I'm ready for my first skating experience!



















It didn't take much of this to hurt Derek's back!

Sometimes it is good to be so short! (But bending over like that did hurt my back, too.)

After cake and ice cream we talked Meghan into taking off the skates and playing in the center of the rink. It was much more fun for all of us!

Meghan even made some friends!

Evan didn't get to go out on the floor. Derek wasn't comfortable enough on the skates to carry him, and well, I can barely take my hand off the wall when I skate. I took one full lap around the rink. Someone actually laughed out loud when he saw me. (I suspect because someone was actually worse than him.) Derek did try to take a picture, but it didn't turn out...too dark and too much movement. I'm sure the subject matter (me) wasn't moving too fast, but him.

A Walk

The kids and I were out for an evening walk with our neighbor Mara, when another neighborhood friend drove up and took our picture. Mara is my morning walking buddy. She and I attempt to visit while fully distracted by her boys on bikes, Evan pulling Meghan's hair, and Meghan taking her shoes off.

Groundhog Day

Yes, I know it is not February 2nd. Yesterday when Derek arrived home from work he heard a tapping sound coming from the basement. (I had been upstairs for hours cleaning up a huge mess left from sanded Spackle...that is a different story.) He went to the basement and saw this!

A woodchuck (groundhog...same thing) had fallen into the egress window. (It's dug fairly deep to let in a lot of light.) After it had fallen down and couldn't escape, it tore a hole in the screen and climbed in. It now had a worse problem. It was stuck between the window and the screen.

A few hours later he had gotten out of the screen.

This morning before 8:30 the fellow who came out to spray for ants returned to remove our little critter. When I asked where he would release him, he had said far away and in a different state. So either Delaware or Maryland is going to have another friend tonight. I'm glad he's gone! They are such pests, and I'm not even a farmer.

Hmm, do you think we'll need to replace the screen?

I should probably tell you that very recently Derek looked for egress window covers at Lowes. They didn't have the proper size. We should be getting a custom one later today though!

Peas

Evan has not been eating baby foods well recently. He's never been a great eater (though incredibly better than Meghan), but in July when we were away and then he had an ear infection his eating really plummeted.

The good news is that he likes to feed himself peas and Puffs. Many miss his mouth, but he enjoys them. These peas came from our Amish neighbor's garden. They are nearly gone. (No adults in our home eat them.)

Mountain Climbing

The other evening we went to the park. Should I apologize for not taking pictures of Meghan's first port-a-potty experience? Probably not. I will apologize for not showing Evan. His pictures on the swings just didn't turn out...very washed out and out of focus. I suppose it was probably the camera operator and not the subject.

Meghan was very certain she wanted to swing in this type of swing and not the regular swing. She also made it very clear she wanted to go HIGH.

Meghan wanted to climb this mountain. (We were at the 5-12 year old playground for this photo, but we did visit the preschool playground, too.) It's one of those things that if she can do it by herself, great, but we're not going to help her. Derek did tell her where to place her hands and/or feet when assistance was needed, but that was all.

Victory! She made it all the way to the top of the mountain!

I'm very proud of our little mountain climber. She is so physical! I just hope (and I bet Derek prays) that she has his athletic ability and NOT mine!

I posted some even better pictures (but no mountains) back in May. You can visit them here.

A. Big. Sentence.

No. Evie. Eat. Momma. Shoes.
























Yep. Five words were spoken to Evan in the form of a reprimand. Each word was said deliberately with a distinct pause in between, but isn't it awesome!?

(I probably hear, "No, no, Evie!!" as often as I hear Meghan ask for a drink, food, or even tv. She is a bit of a control freak when it comes to her brother.)

On a side note, Evan eats all shoes that are in sight. He seems to prefer my flip flops and Meghan's Crocs. Laces are always a hit, too. What doesn't hurt him will just make him stronger, right? It's pretty shameful that I waited to take the picture, huh? Just in case you were wondering, had he been eating the sneakers (Derek's outside work sneakers) beside him, I would have stopped him! They are pretty grungy compared to my flip-flops.

What Camp Taught Me

Yeah, I know. We've been back from Pinebrook for a long time. You would think that it would all be out of my system by now, but I want to share some thoughts with you since I already shared tons of pictures.

Friends=Help Our friends helped us on several occasions. They'd get milk or dessert at meals or hold a fussy one so we could eat. While we packed, some teens took the kids so we didn't have to worry about them. One friend even napped with the kids so I could escape the room in the afternoon!
Ice Cream Motivates Meghan stayed up until 10:30 twice for ice cream! For a little girl who goes to bed at 8 pm, this was amazing. The second time she was swimming in the pool for additional motivation. Amazingly, Evan stayed up that late once, too. (But he did get a short nap in the nursery that night.)
Ask Meghan Meghan always seems to know where things are. She tends to be a typical little girl who takes things that she shouldn't...and hides them. The last day we couldn't find one of the keys to the room. With a charge for missing keys (of course) we were motivated to find it. After looking for several minutes, we finally asked Meghan where the keys were. She went directly to the wipes container. Ta-da! Keys. (The other night we could not find the remote control. Anywhere. UGH! After looking for a very long time in every possible place (even our bedroom) we looked in the toy box. Yep. Right there. Too bad Meghan was asleep other wise the hunt would have been much shorter.
Camp is For Friends Yep, I made a friend while we were there. It was really nice to get to know another woman without focusing on the children. We had plenty to talk about without just talking about kids. (Though our kids are very similar in age, and she has a little one named Megan, too.) We've already been in touch since leaving despite the busyness that comes with summer.
Even the BORING Can Make the TOP TEN LIST Our pastor, Pastor Bill, was the host pastor of that week's camp. There were about 90 people (we were surprised the number was so high) from our church, but other churches were there too. As host pastor, Pastor Bill just facilitated some things and made sure things ran smoothly. (Really, I'm sure he did MUCH more, but I wanted to keep it simple. He wasn't a speaker, but he certainly played a big role in making everyone feel welcome.) Apparently, each year he does a Top 10 list the last night. This year was no exception. Well...Derek and I were quite surprised to come in at number ten..."You know it's time to leave Pinebrook when...Derek and Annette W. stay up past nine o'clock!" You should know that the list was really quite funny...including that!
Now let me explain...First, we usually go to bed early. Derek gets up at 4:30, so we go to bed around 9 most nights. Second, Meghan was so tired the first night that she was stimulating herself to stay awake (at 9:30 without a nap all day!). She was hanging from the bunk bed like she wanted to do a pull up. She didn't settle down until the lights went out...so we said good night too. We knew that there were some evening activities scheduled, but it wasn't until after the second night that we attempted anything. We opted out of the late night bowling, but we went to the snack shop. Derek played games once or twice. I went to an evening activity and had a long walk with my new friend. You might remember that Derek and Meghan went swimming while the rest of us looked on.
It's good to know that we can loosen up and let the kids stay up late once in a while. :) As much as Meghan and Evan seem to thrive on their schedules, it is good to know they can be flexible, too!
We were also encouraged spiritually...the talks were great, and we learned a lot as we were challenged by the two speakers. We probably learned mostly through them, but I wanted to share some of the "life lessons" instead.

Trouble's Coming!

Evan has found the stairs. We haven't figured out exactly how to place a gate on them, but soon we will need to. He will quickly figure them out since he enjoys sitting at the bottom, banging on the step!

One day I heard music. I knew it wasn't Meghan, but I was surprised to find Evan enjoying track 12 of the Veggie Tales '70s CD. He skipped to track 12...and hit play! Amazing. His smile says it all!

Evan just turned nine months old, but he is now cruising along the furniture. Granted, it's slowly, but just the other day he went from one side of the love seat, around my legs (still standing/walking), and over to Meghan! I'm not ready for him to walk! Help!